Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig - words of advice

Mssrs. Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig are founders of Zingerman's, one of Ann Arbor's most popular Delis. The gentlemen were the chief guests for the spring graduation ceremony at UofM. Their words of advice:

Saginaw [said] .....that when they [graduates etc.] assess their mental lists
of must-haves for success, they should work to put joy — driven by
generosity — near the top.

"Generosity leads to joy. It's simple and it's guaranteed. Generosity
follows the natural law of the harvest. You reap more than you sow.
When you give, you get back more," Saginaw said.

"I'm not telling you take a vow of poverty. Earn as much money as you
like, see the world, buy a nice car, get rewarded for hard work. Just
know that these things don't bring joy like being generous does."

And of Weinzweig list, these were my favorites:

Continued, engaged and interesting learning is at the core of a great life.

Hard work can be one of the most rewarding things anyone engages in.

Over the years, the second of the above two has consistently shown its importance - far more than raw intelligence. (Also please see thesetwo articles by Prof. Terrence Tao - great read).